The 18th of November marks the hundredth anniversary of the end of the bloodiest battle in British military history. The Battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July, has become the symbol of the war on the Western Front, with its imagery of massed ranks of inexperienced soldiers rising out of their trenches to be mowed down by machine guns or blown apart by artillery. Although intended to produce a decisive strike against the Germans, forcing a gap which British and French forces could drive through. More than being a single battle, it was a drawn-out war of attrition within the Great War, much like Verdun was for the French, which involved twelve separate battles:
Albert, 1-13 July
Bazentin Ridge, 14-17 July
Delville Wood, 15 July-3 September
Poziéres Ridge, 23 July-3 September
Guillemont, 3-6 September
Ginchy, 9 September
Flers-Courcelette, 15-22 September
Morval, 25-28 September
Thiepval Ridge, 26-28 September
Le…
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